1899 
THE RURAL NEW-YORKER. 
463 
PRODUCTION OF AN EGG. 
WHEN IS IT FERTILIZED ? 
On page 388, we printed an article by Mr. 0. W. 
Mapes, in which the following statement occurred : 
Can any one tell us at what stage of development the egg is fer¬ 
tilized ? Is it before or after the white begins to form ? It would 
seem that, after it is fertilized, it would be necessary for the egg 
to be finished and laid, on the same principle that a pregnant 
animal must give birth to her young. I am satisfied that no hen 
ever yet laid an egg until a group of eggs from the ovaries have 
been partially developed. I am also satisfied that this following 
group of partially-developed eggs is reabsorbed in the circula¬ 
tion, when the hen quits laying. 
Mr. Mapes described a hen that was laying regularly. 
She was given nothing but water for 10 days. She 
laid only one egg. She lost one pound in weight, and 
contained no eggs larger than a pea when killed. 
Prof. A. G. Gilbert, of the Ottawa Agricultural 
College, sent the article to Prof. Wesley Mills, of 
McGill University, Montreal. Dr. Mills is one of the 
leading physiologists in America, and his opinion is 
of more than ordinary value. He says : 
An Expert’s Opinion.—I venture to express the 
following views : 1. The eggs are formed in the ovary, 
and are always at d ! fferent stages of development, 
only one being ripe at the same time, as a rule. 2. 
The egg is fertilized either in the ovary, or at the 
upper part of the oviduct or egg-tube. 3. The latter 
is, especially in its lower part, a gland, and secretes 
the various parts of the egg outside the yolk. 4. The 
conclusion that the eggs of the hen referred to by Mr. 
Mapes were absorbed, dees not seem to me to be a 
necessary one, and inasmuch as, in a non-laying hen 
there is always a multitude of small, imperfectly- 
developed eggs in the ovary, renders it probable that 
not atrophy or absorption, but incomplete develop¬ 
ment is the condition Mr. Mapes found. Nevertheless 
I would not assert that absorption is impossible. 5. 
It is rare that one egg enters the lower part of the 
oviduct before the other already there is expelled, 
but such cases do occur, and explain the phenomena 
of double-yolked and other peculiar eggs. This latter 
subject is treated in an interesting way in a recent 
number of the American Naturalist. 
WESLEY MILLS, M. D. 
SOUTH JERSEY FARM NOTES. 
THE ASPARAGUS AND POTATO CROPS. 
Early High Hopes (May 2D). —I am interested 
in that potato crop at Hope Farm, and hope you will 
get good prices, although I don’t dare to say that I 
think you will. If the season be favorable, I look for 
low prices. Southern Jersey is keeping her end up all 
right on the potato question. The dry weather gave 
us one of the best comeups and stands that we have 
ever had in the county. No heavy rains to pack the 
ground, so that soil inclined to be stubborn or clayey, 
let the potatoes come right through. The time for 
dry weather to hurt us is between June 5 and July 1, 
this year. There is plenty of moisture to carry us an¬ 
other week, and vines are growing fast and very black 
and rank. Potatoes run in size from cherries to 
hickorynuts. I think all hands—up Jersey, down 
Jersey, Long Island and Connecticut, will be ready to 
dig together. I have noticed for some time that the 
temperature has been higher in Boston than in Phila¬ 
delphia, and they had their native asparagus there 
almost as soon as we had it here ; as goes asparagus, 
so generally go potatoes. 
Thinning Potatoes. —We were so wet here that 
we couldn’t plant early. I think you planted nearly 
as early as I did. I have gone in for early varieties, 
and just as soon as they are large enough, I shall want 
to move them. I see that you have cut two good eyes 
to a piece, while I put in a gang of men and went over 
every row of my 37 acres, and thinned out to one stalk 
to a hill. They were planted with the planter about 
16 inches apart in the row. Some of this ground has 
a ton of fertilizer to the acre, too. This thinning out 
is not new with me, but has been practiced by some of 
my neighbors very successfully for years. Until this 
year, I could never find the time, as there was a rush 
of asparagus business at the time it should have been 
done. This year, I have had a gang of Italians here 
cutting by the dozen bunches, which has given me a 
chance to keep some of my good men all the time at 
farming. Our reason for thinning is to get more large 
potatoes early, and have less mediums at any time. 
Where two or three stalks are in a hill, they make a 
big show for vines, but set so many potatoes that they 
fail to grow up, especially should there come a drought 
at the important time. I am gunning for all big or 
marketable potatoes, early ; four to six in a hill are 
plenty. We undertake to cut only one eye to a piece, 
and had many with two, three and four sprouts. Seed 
ran small, and many pieces had two and three eyes on 
near the blossom end. 
Asparagus Crop. —Although it has cut light for 
the past two weeks, owing^o cold weather, our season’s 
crop to date, I am sure, is ahead of last year. It was 
affected very little by the rust, and the first week in 
May was the heaviest week we ever had. This is the 
general verdict of all our shippers. This year, we 
commenced cutting two days later than last year, yet 
by May 13, we had cut and shipped 406 boxes, or 812 
drzens, while last year by May 13, we had shipped 
only 220 boxes, or 440 dozens. There is not near this 
difference in money received, as last year we sent to 
Boston until May 18, and got good prices, while this 
year, we quit there May 7, and prices were lower in 
New York than last year, until the past two weeks, 
when they have been higher than they were at the 
same time last year. Altogether, it will be a profitable 
season for the asparagus grower in Gloucester County. 
The past two weeks, it has been selling for from $4 
to $8 a box of two dozen, according to quality. The 
Italians have been cutting it for 30 cents a box of 
two dozen, and we bunch it. This gave me a chance 
to get my crops farmed when I wanted to. I put up 
a shanty for the cutters, and they board themselves. 
Potatoes Cooking (June 8). —The hot sun and 
wind which suddenly came upon us, are cutting things. 
Everything was lovely until June 5, and now we have 
KALMIA BUDS, SHOWING STAMEN POCKETS. Flo 181 
See Rubalisms, Page 466. 
had four days with the thermometer in the nineties, 
accompanied with heavy, hot winds. I can see that 
the potatoes are being well cooked. Should this last 
a few days longer, with no rain, south Jersey will not 
interfere with the potato market much. We started 
the mowing machine, this morning, on the clover, 
which is being made into hay before cutting. We 
shall cut the lightest crop in 20 years. Asparagus 
has been cutting very heavy since the hot wave 
struck US. WARREN ATKINSON. 
Gloucester County, N. J. 
POTATOES AFTER STRAWBERRIES. 
I usually have good success in planting early 
varieties of potatoes after my strawberry crop, pro¬ 
viding we get a ram within one month after the 
ground is plowed, which is quite sure to happen in 
this locality. As soon as the picking season is over, 
the ground is plowed. My soil is clay, and very diffi¬ 
cult to plow at that season. It usually plows up very 
hard and lumpy, but by going over it twice in a place 
both ways with a disk harrow, and the use of a clod 
crusher, I am able to dispose of most of the lumps. 
I then wait until it rains, when I fit it in good con¬ 
dition, and plant my potatoes. I would rather plant 
August 1, with the soil in good condition, than July 1 
with it in poor condition. I enrich the soil very 
heavily for strawberries, consequently there is enough 
plant food left to produce a good crop of potatoes, as 
strawberries do not deprive the soil of much of its 
fertility. Early potatoes planted this way will give 
a satisfactory yield of marketable potatoes, that will 
not sprout in the cellar like early-planted potatoes. 
If prices are good, I sell these potatoes for eating 
purposes ; if not, I keep them until Spring, and sell 
them for early seed, and what I do not sell for seed, 
I have plenty of time to dispose of at their market 
value. If I attributed my success to one thing in 
growing potatoes in this way, it would be the care I 
give the seed. As soon as the potatoes begin to sprout, 
or danger of freezing is past, I take them into a 
partly-darkened room, spread them about six inches 
deep on the floor, and shovel them over carefully 
once a week until I plant. Do not try to plant pota¬ 
toes in July, and keep the seed in the cellar, as it will 
lose most of its vitality in sprouts before planting time. 
Wickliffe, O. _ w. c. s. 
A CRISIS WITH CATERPILLARS. 
HOW TO FIGHT THEM. 
On Apple Trees. —The tent caterpillars that work 
on apple and forest trees, are overrunning New Eng¬ 
land and eastern New York. Prof. Slingerland, of 
Cornell, has just issued Bulletin 170, which he calls 
an emergency report on these insects. Almost every 
one knows the caterpillar that works on apple trees. 
A trio of these disgusting creatures is shown at Fig. 
185. We all know how the nests or tents look, and 
many of us have spent hours in burning them out, 
with a kerosene blaze on the end of a stick. It will 
pay to hire the boys and girls to collect the egg 
masses, so that they can be destroyed. Pay the little 
folks a fair rate for collecting, and the caterpillars 
will diminish in numbers. Prof. Slingerland says 
that those who spray their orchards thoroughly with 
Bordeaux Mixture, adding Paris-green at the rate of 
one pound to 150 gallons, soon get rid of the cater¬ 
pillars. The first application is made just before the 
blooms appear, the second just after the blooms 
fall, and the third about a week or 10 days later. 
Very few caterpillars will live through these three 
applications. 
On Forest Trees. —The tent caterpillars that live 
on forest trees are doing frightful work this season. 
At this time, they are nearly full grown. Early in 
J ane they will wander about for a suitable abiding 
place. They will select a leaf, a rail fence or any 
sheltered spot. When the house is found, the cater¬ 
pillar proceeds to spin his white shroud or cocoon. 
This is composed of silken threads, mixed with hairs 
from his own body, and colored by a liquid ejected by 
the caterpillar. When the house is finished, it looks 
Lke the picture shown at Fig. 186. Inside this cocoon, 
wonderful changes go on. In about 10 days or two 
weeks, a buff, brown-colored moth appears. It flies 
mostly at night, and is often attracted by light. The 
females lay their eggs in masses of about 200 each 
around the smaller twigs. The eggs are laid early in 
July, and will remain until the following April. The 
forest caterpillar never makes any tent or nest, while 
the variety that works on the apple trees does make 
t.uch a nest. 
How to Kill Them. —Forest enemies including 
insects, spiders, toads and birds prey upon the cater¬ 
pillars and their eggs, but in some years like the 
present, these enemies are not able to handle the 
pests, and they get beyond control. In orchards, the 
spraying with Bordeaux and Paris-green, and gather¬ 
ing the egg clusters, will keep the insect down. On 
forest trees, the problem is more difficult. One of the 
best ways is to enlist the school children in the work, 
and pay them a fair price for the egg clusters they 
collect. In Rochester, N. Y., the children have begun 
such a crusade to save the city’s shade trees. Begin 
the warfare in August or September, or after the 
leaves have fallen. Spraying will kill the forest cat¬ 
erpillars, but it is a very expensive work. 
Fig. 187 shows a family of these forest caterpillars 
resting during the day on the bark of a tree. This is 
about one-third the natural size. These clusters will 
be found on the trees, where they may be crushed 
with a hand covered with a glove, or if the trees are 
jarred with a padded mallet, the caterpillars will 
drop to the ground. A sheet spread under the tree will 
catch them all. This method can be practiced by in¬ 
dividual owners of fruit or shade trees, but Prof. 
Slingerland says that, where village shade trees are 
infested, he would recommend that the village au¬ 
thorities hire several men, equip them with padded 
mallets, brooms and sheets, and have them make a 
business of examining every shade tree, and killing 
the caterpillars. He says that cotton batting, coal 
tar or similar bands put on the trees will avail but 
little in reducing the numbers of caterpillars. Now 
or never is the time to get to work. 
